Non-residential Parents visitation rights

[J0Al1]

Non-residential Parents visitation rights:

This is a subject affecting my life at the moment. I am about to seek (thankfully free) professional advice.

Should the visiting parent (non-residential parent) be able to visit at his/her complete convenience even if it is not convenient and not the most suitable time for the child?

The general consensus I have is hell NO! It should be of mutual convenience and totally when most suitable for the child. However, many people have said that the residential parent will get the ultimate say with regards to convenience.

Ok, so I’m fairly clear on that one.

BUT, what if the non-residential parent (wants) can (due to work circumstances) only visit at a time that is inconvenient to the resident parent and not suitable to the child?

What happens here? Is the non-residential parent’s responsibility to re-schedule his/her life to fit in with the child? Or should the residential parent allow them to visit at an un-suitable time for the child and when is in-convenient to them.

What if the non-residential parent was in the army and posted away for months at a time? What are employee’s obligations?

I’m just interested in people thoughts/experiences and if anyone knows any of the legalities.

[powelly]

Not an easy one that, Ive been to court a couple of times as a NRP seeking contact, both times the court and cafcass has sided with me that its in the childs best interest to have a relationship with both parents.

What's convenient for the parents is secondary to the best interest of the child, now if the resident parent is saying "saturdays are not good for me as we like to go out for the day" then really its tough and time should be split accordingly even if it inconveniences the resident parent.

However if the NRP is saying I can only do 2am in the morning on a tueday then this clearly wouldnt be in the beast interest of the child and the NRP would be expected to reschedule.

So to answer your questions

[J0Al1]

Hey thanks. Ill see how it goes